Quickstart Guide
Welcome to Planning Poker for Jira – your potent tool for efficient project estimation and team collaboration. This guide will help you quickly get started with the essential steps.
Before you begin, we recommend reviewing this document, which provides an overview of estimation values, users roles, and more.
Planning Poker is designed to transcend project boundaries, operating globally rather than being tied to a specific project or board. With two easy entry points, you can access the same collaborative platform, the Dashboard, no matter how you initiate the game.
Once installed, Planning Poker will add a new menu item in the following locations:
Jira top menu Apps > Planning Poker | Project sidebar |
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1. Starting/Joining a Game
Before diving into Planning Poker, let's acquaint you with the Dashboard — an essential hub for navigating and managing your estimation sessions. The Dashboard provides a comprehensive overview of ongoing and finished games, allowing you to swiftly access and orchestrate your estimation process. It can be accessed by clicking the entry points above.
On the Dashboard, you can use filters or the search feature to easily locate a game, and perform actions like copying an existing session with all its settings.
For Admins:
Your role is to configure the game and manage the estimation process.
Begin by creating a new game and inviting participants using an invitation link. You can start a game even without any configuration, but it would be better to make sure that some basic settings are in place. To learn how to configure and start a game, check out these documents: Cloud & Data Center.
For Participants:
Your role is to estimate project tasks accurately.
Join a Planning Poker game by following the invitation link sent to you by the game administrator or through the Planning Poker Dashboard.
2. Estimation Process
Planning Poker involves organized rounds, each focusing on estimating an issue. These rounds consist of three phases: Backlog, Discussion, Voting, and Final Estimate Submission.
In summary, the Backlog phase marks the beginning of the game, initiated by the game administrator. After the admin chooses an issue, the Discussion phase begins, during which the Product Owner presents the details of the issue, and participants ask questions to clarify. Once everyone is clear about the issue, the Voting phase starts. After voting, the Final Estimate Submission phase begins, where the Scrum master analyzes the results and ensures a consensus on the estimation value. This phase concludes when the Scrum master saves the estimation value. Subsequently, the game either reverts to the Backlog phase or proceeds directly to the Voting phase if the round auto-start feature (Cloud, DC) is enabled.
a. Backlog Phase
b. Discussion Phase
c. Voting Phase
d. Final Estimate Submission
For a detailed description of the game flow and the controls used by participants and the admin, check out these documents: Game Flow, Game Controls.
3. Ending the Game
A game concludes when all issues are estimated, or the admin chooses to finish it. Finished games can be reopened if needed.
Effective communication and collaboration are pivotal for successful estimations in Planning Poker. Let's kick off your first game!